


Milwaukee Morning

by amythis



Series: Laverne & Lenny: From Me to You [2]
Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-02 14:23:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10220225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amythis/pseuds/amythis
Summary: Sequel to "Third Base, I Don't Know."





	1. Refreshing

When Laverne woke up Sunday morning, she shook her head. What a crazy dream she'd had! It started out normal but then she'd made out with Lenny!

It took her a minute to realize that maybe it hadn't been a dream. The last thing she remembered was kissing Lenny goodnight on the couch and then returning to her bedroom alone.

She looked down. She was in her nightie but she felt like she wasn't wearing any underwear. She was alone but that didn't mean there was no one else in the apartment. Of course, even if Lenny was sleeping on her couch, that didn't mean they'd fooled around. Maybe he'd stayed over after they watched TV, since Squiggy had discouraged him from returning early while Squiggy was "entertraining female company." Maybe Laverne had dreamed the other stuff. And maybe she had played with herself in her sleep.

Whatever the case, it was a good thing Shirl was out of town and wouldn't be back till that night. But then if she had been around, Laverne wouldn't have asked Lenny to hang out the evening and possibly the night before.

Laverne wondered if she should shower and dress before sneaking out to the living room to see if Lenny really was there. But she decided to just take a quick peek, and hopefully he'd be either gone or asleep. And if he wasn't, well, she'd say good morning and go from there. She knew she couldn't ask if they'd fooled around. If they had, he'd probably be hurt that she wasn't sure. And if they hadn't, she didn't want to plant ideas in his head.

She tiptoed out and saw him sleeping on her couch. OK, that part was real. And he was curled up under one of her blankets, a blanket she remembered using to protect the sofa from stains in the maybe-dream. That didn't necessarily mean anything though. He was grinning in his sleep, but that didn't mean anything either. Maybe he was just having a nice, innocent dream.

She suddenly wanted to kiss him awake. She shook her head again. Just because that dream had been so amazing and incredible, that didn't mean it wasn't crazy. She went back to her room and sat on her bed, racking her brains for details, trying to refresh her memory and figure out if it was a dream. The problem was, the details got her kind of worked up.

Then she heard Lenny yawn like he was waking up. What should she do? What should she say? Should she go back out there?

Before she could decide, he stood in her doorway, naked from the waist down. He leaned against the doorframe and smiled goofily. "Good morning, Laverne."

"Um, hi, Len." She tried not to look at his hard-on.

"Can I use your shower?"

"Uh, yeah, sure. Right in there." She pointed in the direction of the bathroom, although it was a small apartment and there wasn't really anywhere else it could be.

"Thanks. See you after I make myself fresh for you."

"Great." If that was a dream, then what had really happened? And if it wasn't, and they'd really done all that stuff, what now?

She remembered a few years ago, when she'd visited him in his even smaller apartment and she'd brought him his jacket that she'd sewed one of her L's onto. She couldn't let him go through life as "One Wolf" when he wanted to be "Lone Wolf." Not that he really was a loner, but he had that image of himself.

Before she showed him the jacket, he asked if he should shower, like he thought that she'd come upstairs to fool around. He did give her a kiss of gratitude, which had really knocked her off balance. She hadn't even been able to judge whether it was a good or bad kiss. She was too shocked that it had happened.

Since then, she'd given him some kisses, little and big. But she kept it light, until maybe last night.

As she listened to the water run, she couldn't help picturing Lenny's tall, skinny body naked in her shower stall. What if not everything in the "dream" had happened but she wanted him anyway? And what would that mean?

Then Lenny started singing, in his deepest voice, a Shirelles song. She would've laughed but she didn't know if he was seriously asking, "Is this a lasting treasure or just a moment's pleasure? Can I believe the magic of your sighs? Will you still love me tomorrow?"

She didn't love him, not like that. She'd admitted last year that she loved him as a friend. And she didn't want to hurt him by leading him on. But if they had gone to third base last night, was that leading him on emotionally?

She'd set down rules that he'd done his best to follow. But now she was having trouble knowing what to do. And this was the morning after something.

She asked herself what she wanted to do, if she didn't have to worry about what any of this meant to either of them. And then she found herself stripping off her nightie and going into the bathroom.

His back was to her and she noticed he had a cute bottom, round but little and muscular. In the dream or whatever, she only saw him from the front, and they were mostly on the couch. Mostly looking into each other's eyes, or necks during the necking.

She coughed. "You want me to wash your back?"

He seemed startled, although of course she couldn't see his face. It was his regular voice though that answered, "Yeah, sure, thanks."

"No problem." She stepped into the shower and he handed her the soap over his shoulder. She went lightly along his skin with the soap.

"That tickles a little."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's OK. Um, Laverne, are you naked?"

"No, I'm in an evening gown."

He chuckled. "You look good that way, too."

"Thanks." She applied more pressure as she slowly moved the soap along the back of him, from the neck downward.

"Mmm! Laverne, you got such a good touch."

"Thank you."

"I'm gonna remember what you did to me last night for the rest of my life." 

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You're real special, Laverne."

"Thank you. Uh, so are you." They were on slippery ground here but she didn't know how to back away.

"You mean it?"

She swallowed. "Yeah, I do."

"Wow! I mean, I know it was just a one-time thing, but I appreciate you not spitting in my face the next day."

"I would never do that, Len. Besides, you said girls can't spit."

"Well, yeah, not usually."

She reached his bottom, hesitated, and then washed that, too.

"Wow, Laverne!"

"You like that, Len?"

"I like all of this. I've never showered with nobody before. Well, in Gym class, but it wasn't this intimated."

"Yeah, I guess not."

"Can I turn around now?"

"Uh, OK." If the dream wasn't a dream, then he'd already touched her most "intimated" spots, although he hadn't seen her naked below the waist, sort of the opposite of what she'd seen of him last night. He'd reached under her skirt but she'd left it on the whole time.

"Thanks." He turned around and he had a grin and a hard-on. "Oh, Laverne! You're so pretty!"

She blushed a little. "Thank you." It wasn't like he'd never called her pretty before, but it wasn't while he was taking in her whole body with his widening eyes.

She had to look away from his face. She looked at his chest, which was more muscular and less hairy than she'd pictured.

"I just wanna look at you for hours, but we'd get pruny."

"Yeah."

"Can I kiss you?"

She was surprised. Usually Lenny didn't ask first, and this was after they'd done all that they'd done. "Yeah, I'd like that."

He leaned forward and gently tipped her chin up with one hand. He lightly kissed her lips.

Still holding the soap, she put her arms around his neck. She let the kiss build slowly, very aware of how close their naked bodies were but telling herself that this was technically first base. Well, maybe second.

Their bodies moved closer, still not quite touching. She could picture them linking up. She thought of the times she'd unsuccessfully tried to teach him how to dance. If they voe-dee-oh-doe-doed, would she have to teach him that? Was he a virgin? She was never sure with him. Probably not too experienced anyway.

As for Laverne, well, she was technically still a virgin but she'd done enough to figure out how "home plate" worked. Was it crazy that she wanted Lenny to be her technical first? She knew that he might be clumsy but he would be gentle yet passionate.

The thing was, they couldn't go to bed—or do it in the shower!—and then act like nothing happened. She wasn't even sure if that would work for third base. Obviously, neither of them was letting go of last night easily. With another guy, it'd be more of a worry that he'd drop her once he got what he wanted from her. With Lenny, she'd feel like it was some kind of commitment. Or at least he'd think it was.

Lenny moved his head closer to her ear and whispered loudly because of the shower, "Laverne, can I—?"

"Yeah, Len?"

"Can I wash you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." She let go of his neck and handed him the soap.

He lathered up his hands and then returned the soap. He rubbed his soapy hands along her front, downward from the neck. He spent a lot of time rubbing her breasts, making her nipples stand out even more. Eventually he went down to her stomach, but didn't spend much time there. She bit her lip as one hand dipped between her legs and the other went back up to her chest.

"You're gettin' wet, Laverne," he whispered in her ear.

"Well, we are in the shower," she said.

He chuckled. "Yeah. You wanna come again?"

"Uh huh!" she gasped. The dream had been real. He made her come like this the night before, except that they'd been sitting on the couch.

She shut her eyes as she climaxed and wasn't surprised to see him looking at her adoringly when she looked up at his face again. She was going to have to get used to that look if she was going to keep fooling around with him.

"You want another? Or could you maybe play with me again? I really liked how you touched me and you can see how hard I am."

"Yeah!" she gasped.

"Yeah, you want another? Or yeah, you wanna play with me? Or yeah, you can see how hard I am?"

"Let me. Catch my breath."

"Sure." He took his hands away and she immediately missed them, but it was hard to think when he was touching her naked body.

She tried to return her breathing to normal. "I want."

"Yeah?"

"I want you to come to bed with me."

"You mean for sleep?"

"No."

"Just checkin'. Um, yeah, if you're sure you're ready."

"I. I want you." She said it simply because that was all she could manage.

"Oh, Laverne!" He grabbed her and gave her a big smooch on the lips. "You've made me the happiest man in the world!"

"Well, good." Was this a mistake? Should she think this over more? Or should she stop thinking and just be swept away?

To her surprise, Lenny said, "But we can't do it right away."

"Why not?" She felt incredibly disappointed and a little relieved.

"I need a safety."

"You wanna shave first?" His face was a little stubbly but not bad.

He chuckled and turned off the water. "No, I mean a safe. A, pardon my French, scumbag."

It was probably inevitable that she could hear the front door being yanked open and Squiggy calling, "Hello!"


	2. Lying

Lenny looked at her with a _What will we do now?_ panic on his face. She realized she'd have to do the thinking for them, even if her brain was still hopped up on hormones.

She whispered, "Remember Condition #1?" 

He whispered back, "When you say it's time for me to leave, I leave?"

Well, it was clearly that time, but "That's Condition #3. Number One is you never tell anyone, especially Squiggy, about this."

"Oh, right."

Neither of them referred to Condition #2, that he not use the word "love," which he'd sort of broken by saying he wasn't going to mention it.

"I'm asleep in bed. You've just taken a shower, alone."

"Hello?" This time Squiggy's greeting was more of a question. "Anybody home?"

"Uh, yeah, Squiggy. I just got out of the shower."

"Oh, that explains the pile of clothes on the living room floor."

Laverne and Lenny both looked down at the T-shirt he'd tossed onto the bathroom floor. Then she pointed at her robe hanging on a hook of the bathroom door.

He got it and quickly put on the shirt and then the robe. "I'll be right out," he yelled towards the living room.

"OK."

"Tell him to raid the refrigerator," Laverne whispered. Lenny looked puzzled. "As a distraction."

Lenny nodded and then yelled, "Why don't you help yourself to something from the fridge?"

"Well, you've sure made yourself at home. Where's Laverne?"

"Uh, asleep in bed."

"Oh?"

Laverne waved at Lenny to go out there immediately. He blew her a kiss before he went, although they were standing only twelve inches apart. She continued to listen to Lenny and Squiggy's conversation from the bathroom, afraid that Squiggy might peek into the bedroom.

"Yeah, we were up late last night."

"Oh, really?"

"Watchin' TV."

"And you stayed over?"

"Well, you told me not to come home till late and I figured you'd be glad to have the place to yourself. And Laverne didn't mind me staying over."

"Uh huh."

"I slept on the couch." So far, other than pretending that Laverne was asleep, Lenny wasn't technically lying to his best friend.

"And you didn't try nothin'?"

"I respect Laverne too much to do something she doesn't want."

"Well, ain't you the perfect gentleman?"

"Um, so how was your date?" 

"Not to boast, but I had myself quite the evening."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Second base!"

"That's great, Squig."

"Yeah. These girls don't got nothin' I want."

"Huh?"

"In the fridge."

"Oh, sorry."

"Did Laverne make you dinner?"

"Yeah, spaghetti."

"Sounds like you had a better time than you do on actual dates. Except for the not-fooling-around part. But then you don't always get to fool around on your dates."

"Well, yeah."

"Oh, wait, here's something in the back of the fridge."

"Good. Help yourself. Laverne won't mind."

"But what about Shirl?"

"She's not coming back till tonight, and Laverne said she might go grocery-shopping before then." Even that was the truth.

Or it would've been, if the door hadn't swung open as Shirley exclaimed, "What a nightmare!"

Squiggy presumably took his head out of the refrigerator to say, "Hello," and then Laverne could hear the sound of what she'd later discover was Lenny tripping and falling flat on his face while putting on his jeans.

Then she heard Shirley slam the door and scream, "What are you two doing here?"

Laverne decided that this was a good time to dash back to bed and put on her nightgown. Lenny could probably keep Squiggy from visiting the bedroom, but there was no way to keep Shirley out.

"Lenny didn't come home last night."

"Oh God, he didn't write another song about Laverne, did he?"

"I don't think so. His guitar is upstairs."

"Um, hi, Shirley," Lenny belatedly said. "Nice to see you."

"Can you please put your pants on?"

"Sorry. Uh, avert your eyes."

"I plan to. And just where is Laverne, while you're running around half naked and Squiggy is eating my leftover meatloaf with his bare hands?"

"Oh, is that what this is? You got any ketchup?"

"Go home! Both of you!"

"Let me just zip up first. And, um, Laverne is in the bedroom, asleep."

"I see."

"Can I take the meatloaf with me? I think we got ketchup upstairs."

"No!"

"Gee whiz, I'm just askin'."

"Uh, see you later, Shirley. Tell Laverne, um, thanks for dinner. And for letting me sleep over."

"I'll have a lot to tell Laverne."

Laverne realized she had a lot to tell Shirley. Or maybe she'd just lie about everything. Well, the fooling around parts anyway. After all, thanks to Squiggy's impeccable timing, Shirley hadn't caught Laverne and Lenny in the shower, or worse in bed! Of course, not much could be said for Shirley's timing, with her showing up about twelve hours early. But maybe that had something to do with "What a nightmare!"

Shirley didn't come into the bedroom immediately and when she did she asked, "Laverne, what are your Saturday panties doing on the living room floor on a Sunday morning?"

Laverne remembered her father singing a song when she was little called "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night?", but she didn't think Shirley would appreciate an Al Jolson imitation just then. "Uh, I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"Obviously not."

"Why are you back so soon?"

Shirley sighed. "I got a call from the airport last night that my flight had been cancelled but they could get me on a flight twelve hours later or twelve hours earlier. So I went with the earlier flight and there was lots of turbulence and it was a nightmare."

"Oh. I'm sorry. But why didn't you call and tell me?"

"I thought it was too late and I didn't want to wake you. But I get the feeling you didn't get much sleep last night."

"No, I got some. Got some sleep," she added hastily.

"Uh huh. Laverne, what exactly went on last night?"

Laverne sighed. OK, she was going to go with the truth, sort of. "OK, so I sort of made out with Lenny."

"Laverne, you can't 'sort of make out' with someone. That's like being a little bit pregnant."

"All right, I made out with him."

"Without your panties on?"

"Well, they were on some of the time."

"Laverne!"

"I know, it was crazy."

"I'll say! Number one, you know that poor boy still has a crush on you."

Laverne hadn't expected that to be Shirley's first objection. "Well, yeah." 

"And number two, besides leading him on, to fulfill your filthy desires—"

"Hey!"

"Laverne, I know you've had a dry spell lately. And there's Lenny, who's kind of cute if you squint at him, and he's available and interested. And you were all alone and you got carried away."

"You make it sound like it was all my idea." OK, so it was.

"I'm sure he was very happy to be seduced but that still doesn't excuse your behavior."

"Well."

"And number three, you made out with Lenny in my living room!"

"Hey, it's my living room, too, Shirl."

"It's half mine. And this apartment has been like a pristine temple, where nothing more than first base ever happened before." Laverne gave her a look of _Are you kiddin' me?_ "OK, maybe second. But underpants stayed on. You went to third base with him, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, technically."

Shirley shook her head. "And number four, this is going to give you a very bad reputation, because you know he can't keep it from Squiggy, and Squiggy will tell everyone."

"He's not gonna tell Squiggy."

"Don't kid yourself, Laverne. Those two are thick as thieves. Even if he doesn't want to kiss & tell, he'll eventually blurt it out. And then where will you be?"

"Shirl, he won't tell. And he knows that it was just a one-time thing."

"Really? Don't forget number five, that not only is Lenny going to have emotional expectations now, but it's only a matter of time before he'll be expecting you to give him a priceless gift."

"Tupperware?"

"Laverne."

"OK, Shirl, I get what you're sayin', but what am I supposed to do?"

"You're going to let him down gently and tell him that, while you might treasure the memory, you've come to your senses and you have to put a stop to this."

"Do I gotta?"

"Laverne, what did I tell you last year?"

"Can you be more specific?"

" 'Mark my words, Laverne. If you don't set this thing with Lenny straight right now, it's gonna snowball into something big and you're gonna hurt that boy.' You didn't mark them, did you, Laverne?"

"No, but you apparently did."

Shirley shook her head. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't get me started on airplane restrooms."

As soon as Shirley closed the bathroom door behind her, Laverne scrambled into her Sunday panties, a bra, a blouse, and jeans. She needed to do a quick inspection of the living room and see if there was anything too incriminating, besides the stained blanket.

She was folding up the blanket when she heard Lenny's "Hello?" coming down the dumbwaiter.


	3. Singing

Laverne set down the blanket and went over to the dumbwaiter. Maybe it would be easier to tell him this way, rather than face to face. "Hey, Len."

"Laverne, are you alone?"

"Uh, yeah, at the moment but—"

"Great! I want to play you a song."

It was just like last year, only worse, because she hadn't given him just a quiet, gentle, little kiss, the kind you give a baby's boom-boom. "Uh, Lenny, I don't think this is a good time."

"I wanna sing it while we're both alone." She could hear him strumming and then he launched into "Da da da, da da dumb dumb da, da da da, da da dumb dumb da." It took her a moment to recognize it and then she realized that it was that song by the new British group, the Beetles or whatever, that people had started talking about. She and Lenny had seen something on the news before the Abbott & Costello program. He apparently had used the time of her conversation with Shirley to learn an entire song. Or maybe he'd been memorizing it before and just hadn't told her.

"If there's anything that you want, if there's anything I can do, just call on me and I'll send it along with love, from me to you."

He was not living up to their agreement, singing the L-word again. Or maybe he thought that that condition only applied in her apartment. She hoped he wasn't planning to break the condition about telling Squiggy.

"I've got everything that you want, like a heart that's oh so true. Just call on me and I'll send it along with love, from me to you."

This wasn't good. Well, his singing was good as usual. But this was a love song, even if it wasn't as direct a tribute as "In Love with Laverne." If not for last night and this morning, she might've thought he was just showing her the song he learned. But she didn't buy it, and she was sure Shirley wouldn't if she heard any of it. Laverne didn't know how to stop him though.

"I've got arms that long to hold you and keep you by my side. I've got lips that long to kiss you and keep you satisfied."

Those lines sounded a lot less innocent than when the group sang them, especially after what she and Lenny had done. Panicking, Laverne slammed the dumbwaiter door shut. She could still kind of hear Lenny but the sound was more muffled now and she couldn't distinguish any words.

"At least I never got Ned Stern so infatuated he sang into a dumbwaiter."

Laverne turned and saw Shirley in the bedroom doorway with her arms crossed. Laverne wondered how long she'd been standing there. "He's, he's just showing me a new song he learned."

"Then why are you acting so guilty?"

"Because I knew you'd jump to conclusions, like you always do."

"Laverne, you made out with a man you insist is just a friend!"

"He is just a friend."

"Does he know that?"

Laverne didn't know how to answer that. And she wasn't sure he was just a friend, but maybe he could go back to that, once she talked to him.

Shirley shook her head and walked over to the dumbwaiter. She opened the door just as Lenny asked, "Was my singing that bad?"

"It was lovely, Leonard."

"Oh, um, hi, Shirl."

"Lenny, can you please come downstairs? Laverne has something she wants to tell you."

"Yeah, sure! I'll be right down."

Laverne slammed the door shut again. "Why'd you have to put it that way? Now he's going to think I have something nice to tell him."

"It's not my fault if he thinks you might return his love."

Laverne shook her head. Shirley wasn't wrong, but now it was going to be even harder to have that talk with Lenny.

It seemed only a moment later that Lenny opened the front door and quietly said, "Hello." He was smiling shyly. "You got something to tell me, Laverne?"

"Um, yeah, I do."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, you sing real good."

"Well, thanks." He looked both flattered and disappointed.

Shirley shook her head. "Both of you. Sit on the couch. Now."

They obeyed, sitting at opposite ends, not saying anything.

Shirley sighed and sat between them. "All right, fine. I'll do it. Lenny, Laverne cares very deeply for you but she made a mistake last night."

"A mistake?"

"Yes, it's nothing personal, but she realizes now that it was wrong to get so physical when you're not even dating."

"Oh, well, maybe we could date. You wanna go out, Laverne?"

"That's not the point," Shirley said before Laverne could figure out a reply. "You two are just too different for it to work out. You had your fun but it's not meant to be."

"Is that how you feel, Laverne?"

"I, I'm a little confused," she admitted.

"Me, too."

"You see?" Shirley said triumphantly. "This is why heavy petting is dangerous. You can't think clearly."

"Well, I couldn't really think clearly before anyway," Lenny said. "But I'm not confused about Laverne. I've always felt this way about her. Well, the feelings have gotten stronger over time."

"Yes, but, Lenny, unfortunately Laverne doesn't have the same feelings and it's unfair to both of you to try to make a go of it. Not to mention that lust is a terrible foundation for a relationship."

"Is it lust if I love her?"

"Lenny!" Laverne scolded.

"Sorry, Laverne, you do excite me, but I just love being around you anyway. You're fun and funny and sweet and tough."

"Lenny, she doesn't see you the same way."

"Well, maybe not tough."

"Laverne!" Shirley and Lenny both exclaimed, she in horror and he in delight.

"He is. You are. Fun and funny and sweet. And I like being around you. And, OK, right now I'm in like and you're in more. But maybe that'll change if I give it a chance."

"Oh, Laverne, do you mean it?" Lenny leaned past Shirley and hugged Laverne.

"Well, I think we should go out on a date. A real date. And maybe not go past first base, so we can think as clearly as we're gonna."

"Can we do second and third later? I mean if we have more dates."

"Yeah, sure."

"Stop!" Shirley pried them apart with both hands. "If you two are going to date, and believe me, I have serious reservations about that, you can't keep letting your hormones take over."

Laverne asked, "What if we don't go past second base in the apartment?"

Shirley sighed. "Only if I'm not home. And don't overdo first base in front of me."

"OK," Laverne and Lenny said at the same time and then smiled at each other.

Shirley shook her head. "Why do I feel like we're walking right into a disaster?"

Involuntarily, the three of them turned their heads towards the door, expecting Squiggy's hello. After ten seconds of waiting, Lenny looked at Shirley and asked, "So do we have your blessing?"

"Don't make it sound like you're getting married!"

"Well, not yet," Lenny teased.

Now Laverne shook her head. "Len, just because I'm gonna go out with you, don't think it's a big romance."

The door swung open but it was Carmine who said, "Hello," and then " What time is Shirley's plane getting— Shirley, you're back early!"

Shirley leapt off the couch and ran into his arms. "Oh, Carmine, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Miss me, huh, Angel Face?"

"You have no idea how much!"

"You were only gone for a couple days."

"It feels longer."

"Well, then why don't we go get brunch?"

"I'd love to!" She glanced over at Laverne and Lenny. She apparently decided she didn't trust them alone because she pulled away from Carmine and said, "But I think it'd be even nicer if I made you brunch here."

"Aw, Shirl, you don't have to go to that much trouble, especially when you're probably jet-lagged."

"No trouble at all."

Laverne said, "Uh, Shirl, there's not much in the fridge. I was gonna go shopping later."

"Then why don't you go now?"

Laverne wondered if Shirley wanted some comforting second base with Carmine, or if she was going to tell him about Laverne and Lenny. Or maybe she just wanted Laverne and Lenny out of the apartment. Laverne didn't argue though. She said, "OK. Hey, Len, you wanna come with me? I need someone to carry the heavy stuff."

He flexed his arm and said, "Sure." Then he stood up and said, "Let me just go upstairs and get my jacket."

After Lenny left, Carmine said, "You'd think he was her boyfriend or something."

"Or something," Shirley said, giving Laverne a meaningful look.

Laverne grabbed her own jacket, thinking of how its L matched the one on Lenny's, like they'd lettered in the same sport. "I'm gonna wait outside."

"You're going out barefoot in the winter?" Carmine asked.

"Oh, right."

Carmine chuckled. "I think you're the one with jet-lag."

"Yeah, maybe," Laverne said as she put on shoes without socks, not wanting to look for the socks from yesterday or to go put on clean ones from the bedroom. "See you later!" She dashed into the hallway.

Lenny came downstairs half a minute later. "So which store are we going to?"

"The corner market. And maybe the drugstore on the next block."

Lenny got it and grinned. "You mean it?"

"For later. If it happens."

"Sure, Laverne, whatever you want." It was what he'd said last night, at the beginning of the craziness, which didn't seem to be ending. Then he started humming "From Me to You."


End file.
